Multiple phenotypic traits predict male mating success in a critically endangered frog

Kelleher, Shannon R.; Silla, Aimee J.; McFadden, Michael; Stares, Mitchell G.; Endler, John A.; Byrne, Phillip G.

doi:10.1007/s00265-021-03119-9

Cited by 3 publications

(1 citation statement)

References 104 publications

(156 reference statements)

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“…There is a well-established relationship between size and call frequency among species of anurans, and within species there are many examples of correlations between size and frequency (e.g., Márquez, 1995;Moser et al, 2022). In some species, males that emit calls with lower dominant frequencies appear to be more attractive to females and have a higher mating and fertilization success (Wells, 2007;Kelleher et al, 2022). In L. bufonius, a lower frequency is characteristic of larger males with longer arms.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Older males whistle better: Age and body size are encoded in the mating calls of a nest-building amphibian (Anura: Leptodactylidae)

et al. 2022

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Courtship acoustic displays in anuran amphibians are energetically costly and risky, but have a major role in mating success since they encode relevant information regarding the caller’s identity and status. Age and size are essential traits shaping fitness, reproductive success and life-history strategies, and thus are expected to also have a role in courtship displays. We tested this assumption in a species of nest-building frogs, Leptodactylus bufonius, in northern Argentina. We conducted the first detailed quantitative description of the males’ mating calls and assessed the effects of biological traits (i.e., body size parameters and individual age) and local climate (i.e., air temperature and humidity) on the main acoustic features of these calls (i.e., call duration, inter-call duration, dominant frequency, and dominant frequency modulation). The calls were short (mean ± SE, 0.163 ± 0.004 s), whistle-like, single notes with harmonic structure. The dominant frequency (1381.7 ± 16.2 Hz) decreased with arm length (χ2 = 5.244, df = 1, p = 0.022) and had an upward modulation (456.4 ± 11.0 Hz) which increased with age (χ2 = 4.7012, df = 1, p = 0.030). Call duration and dominant frequency were the most static parameters at intra-individual level, indicating their role in individual recognition. Temperature and humidity shaped the temporal acoustic parameters, and the dominant frequency. Our findings suggest that the acoustic features of the mating calls in amphibians could promote female mate choice in relation to both size and age and open up new questions for future research: are females more attracted to older males, and what are the specific costs and benefits? We suggest that mating calls may direct female preferences toward males of certain size and age classes, ultimately shaping the life-history strategies in a given population. Finally, we found discrepancies in the mating calls of L. bufonius recorded from Corrientes and those previously described from other populations, which suggests that multiple species may have been recorded under the same name.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Older males whistle better: Age and body size are encoded in the mating calls of a nest-building amphibian (Anura: Leptodactylidae)

et al. 2022

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Movement or plasticity: acoustic responses of a torrent frog to stream geophony

Turin,

Nali

2024

Behavioral Ecology

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Vocalization is the main form of communication in many animals, including frogs, which commonly emit advertisement calls to attract females and maintain spacing. In noisy environments such as streams, mechanisms to maximize signaling efficiency may include vocal plasticity and/or movement of individuals to quieter sections, but which strategy is used is still uncertain. We investigated the influence of stream geophony on the advertisement call of the torrent frog Hylodes perere in the Atlantic Rainforest, in southeastern Brazil. In a mark-recapture study, we tested if males remain in their territories and thus adjust their advertisement calls to maximize their communication. We ran linear mixed models to verify the relationship of call parameters and stream geophony, body size, and environmental temperature. We found that males remained in the same location across time, increased call intensity in noisier environments, but did not reduce call effort. Males also increased the dominant frequency in these situations, suggesting a modulation in this parameter. Our results indicate that territoriality is an important factor for males to increase call intensity to surpass stream noise instead of repositioning along the stream. However, because call effort was maintained, we suggest that sexual selection is crucial in this system, favoring males that better detect others and adjust their call efficiency. This is the first study to evaluate simultaneously frog movements and adaptations to geophony, which contributes to the investigation of the concomitant environmental and sexual selective pressures in species that communicate in noisy environments.

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The evolution of male weapons is associated with the type of breeding site in a clade of Neotropical frogs

Santana,

Caetano,

Palaoro

et al. 2024

Preprint

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Male weaponry evolution is often linked to resource or female defense polygyny. This pattern emerges from highly studied taxa, such as arthropods and mammals. However, whether factors such as breeding site type influence weaponry evolution remains an open question. We explore this question using frogs of the subfamily Leptodactylinae, where males of species spawning in exposed sites (water bodies) fight to hold oviposition sites or dislodge rivals during amplexus. Conversely, males of species spawning in concealed sites (ground nests and crevices) rarely engage in intense physical contests. We hypothesize that male weaponry evolution would be associated with reproduction in exposed sites. Using two complementary phylogenetic comparative methods, we first found a macroevolutionary correlation between male weapons and breeding site type. The presence of weapons is consistently associated with exposed sites, while their absence is linked to concealed sites. We explore how this macroevolutionary pattern can also be influenced by female mate choice. Second, we found that both gains and losses of weapons occurred more frequently in species spawning in exposed sites. This unexpected finding suggests that the dynamics of weapon evolution are more intricate than anticipated. We propose some explanations aspiring to stimulate further investigations with other external fertilizer species.

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Multiple phenotypic traits predict male mating success in a critically endangered frog

Cited by 3 publications

References 104 publications

Older males whistle better: Age and body size are encoded in the mating calls of a nest-building amphibian (Anura: Leptodactylidae)

Older males whistle better: Age and body size are encoded in the mating calls of a nest-building amphibian (Anura: Leptodactylidae)

Movement or plasticity: acoustic responses of a torrent frog to stream geophony

The evolution of male weapons is associated with the type of breeding site in a clade of Neotropical frogs

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